Sindh Assembly urged to reject forced conversion bill

LAHORE: After almost a month of the submission of a bill in the Sindh Assembly against forced conversions, various religious and religio-political outfits sat together on Monday to voice against it.

A joint declaration issued after the sitting announced a countrywide protest on Friday (May 3) and threatened of a vigorous protest campaign if the bill was passed by the provincial house.

Admitting that forced conversions were wrong, it said forcibly preventing someone from embracing Islam was also against the Shariah.

Chaired by Pir Mian Abdul Khaliq of Bharchoondi Sharif and organised by the Khatme Nabuwat Alliance and Tanzeem Ittehad-i-Ummat Pakistan, the sitting alleged that in the name of protecting minorities’ rights, the Sindh government was creating hurdles in the way of willful conversions.

They said they would write protest letters to the president, prime minister, Sindh governor and chief minister as well as members of the Sindh Assembly on the issue.

Alluding to holding the meeting in Punjab about the Sindh Assembly bill, Mr Wardag suggested that such a multi-party conference be organised in Karachi first before the issue was taken to other provinces.

Mr Baloch urged PPP leaders Asif Zardari and Bilawal Bhutto to play their role in blocking the bill as their party ruled the Sindh province.

The Sindh Assembly passed the bill moved by PML-F lawmaker Nand Kumar against forced conversion in November 2016 but the then PPP-led Sindh government asked then governor retired Justice Saeeduz Zaman Siddiqui not to ratify and send it back for reconsideration following concerns shown by some religious quarters.

The bill was, however, never re-assessed or discussed in the assembly, despite the ruling party counted it among its achievements towards safeguarding minorities’ rights.

Mr Kumar also tabled the new bill on April 5 titled Criminal Law (Protection of Minorities) Act of 2019.